I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 728
To amend the Head Start Act to include TANF, SSI, SNAP, WIC, and
federal housing assistance as eligible public assistance.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY24, 2025
Mr. G
ARAMENDI(for himself, Mr. TURNERof Texas, Mr. JACKSONof Illinois,
Mrs. C
HERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mr. JOHNSONof Georgia, Ms. ANSARI,
Mr. T
HANEDAR, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. TITUS, Mr. CORREA, Ms. MOORE
of Wisconsin, Mr. Q
UIGLEY, Mr. GARCIAof California, Mr. VICENTE
G
ONZALEZof Texas, Mr. GARCI´Aof Illinois, and Mrs. HAYES) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
Workforce
A BILL
To amend the Head Start Act to include TANF, SSI, SNAP,
WIC, and federal housing assistance as eligible public
assistance.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding Head Start 4
Eligibility Act of 2025’’. 5
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SEC. 2. DEFINITION. 1
Section 637 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9832) 2
is amended— 3
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (25) and (26) 4
as paragraphs (26) and (27), respectively, and 5
(2) by inserting after paragraph (24) the fol-6
lowing: 7
‘‘(25) The term ‘public assistance’, as defined 8
by the Secretary, shall include— 9
‘‘(A) assistance received under part A of 10
title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 11
601 et seq.); 12
‘‘(B) benefits received under title XVI of 13
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et 14
seq.); 15
‘‘(C) supplemental nutrition assistance 16
program benefits received under the Food and 17
Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); 18
‘‘(D) the nutrition assistance program 19
(NAP) under section 19 of the Food and Nutri-20
tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2018) and the food 21
distribution program on Indian Reservations 22
(FDPIR) under section 4(a) of the Consumer 23
Protection Act of 1973 (7 U.S.C. 612c note); 24
‘‘(E) State-funded food assistance pro-25
grams, with income eligibility standards iden-26
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tical or substantially identical to those of the 1
supplemental nutrition assistance program 2
under of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 3
(7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); 4
‘‘(F) assistance received under section 17 5
of the Child Nutrition Act (42 U.S.C. 1786 et 6
seq.); 7
‘‘(G) assistance received under section 8 of 8
the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 9
U.S.C. 1437f et seq.); and 10
‘‘(H) additional benefits and assistance 11
provided under Federal law as determined by 12
the Secretary.’’. 13
Æ
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